Art of envelope manufacture



1. M. TOWNSEND.

ART OF ENVELOPE MANUFACTURE.

APPLICATION FILED JAN.6. 1922.

' Patented Aug. 22, 1922.

Inventor J5sep77M.75u/hsend star JOSEPH M. TOWNSEND, or WORCESTER,MASSACHUSETTS,- AssIsnoa crown-HALF TO WALLACE E. rrannman,or'wononsrna, MASSACHUSETTS, 1

'AR'I OFENVELOPE MANUFACTUREI To all whom it my camer 1 Be it known thatI, J OSEPH M. TOWNSEND,

a citizen of the United States, residingat IVorcester, in the county of.VVorcester and State of Massachusetts,,have invented certain new anduseful Improvements in the Art of Envelope Manufacture, of which thefollowing tion.

This invention relates to improvements in the provision of aninexpensive, reliably operative, and otherwise improved means and methodinvolving a suction device, or the.

use of vacuum for securing and manipulating a blank of paper or similarmaterial to effectively crease the same along various prede terminedlines of fold and, if desired, press upon the folded portions, to causeadherence at their gummed areas.

Other objects will b obvious-upon a consideration of the description ofone of various possible ways of employing my improved method and themeans for carrying the same into effect, which follows herein.

In the accompanying drawings:

Fig. 1 is a view in plan of my improved envelope holding and foldingdevice.

Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken on the line 22 of Fig. 1, showing theenvelope holding means in uppermost position.

Fig. 3 is a similar view, but with the envelope holding means shown in alower position and the folding fingers moving to complete theirrespective folds. I

A main support, or frame, is indicated at 10. This frame has suitableuprights 11 within which are suitably journaled fingers 12, 13, 14, and15. While for th purpose of the present case it is unimportant by whatmeans these fingers are actuated, it is'of' is a full, clear, and exact.d es'crip'' be substantially co-extensive envelope.

Serial no. 527,399,

ininates at'its l iY otedf in a roll16 of:

vsubstantialdiameter and which has a func Speeific'ation'of LettersPatent: P t t d A 2 Application filed January 6,1922, 1

eccentric23 carried on a shaft 24, which.

latter may be driven from any suitable source of power. By means of theeccentric 23 the' suction member islntermittentlyj lifted-to contactwith the envelope blank, as indicated at 30 (the blank being fed bysuitable mechanism against a sto tioned, as shown 'in The block 20 isprovided with a common air chamber 32,. which communicates with asuction apertures indicated at 33. Ai'pipev 31 temporarily posi- Iplurality of 34, havinga flexible characteristic, communicates withchamber 32 of thesuction block,

and suitable means videdfor exhausting bers and conduits through saidpipe.

(not shown) are prothe a1r from-the charm of the suction block Thesuction apertures are arranged to with, and adjacent to, the proposedlines of fold of the In the embodiment of the inven-' tion shown in thedrawings these suction apertures are continuous narrow slots extendingalmost the entire length and width of the block. Obviously theseapertures might be of somewhat different configuration and arrangementwithout departing from the inventive idea. 1

Assuming the envelope blank to have attached to the suction block, asshown in 3 Fig. 2, with the block in its uppermost posi-' tion andfirmly holding the envelope blank approximate the predetermined lines offold, it will be notedthat as the suction block is moved downwardly bythe eccentric 23, portions of the blank extending beyondv the block 20on all sides are wiped against the rolls 16, which may be considered atthat time as substantially fixed parts relativelyv to the suction block20. This wiping action gives an initial fold to the envelope flaps,

which initial fold is concluded by rapid I movement of the foldingfingers 12, 13, 14, and 15 in proper sequence, into pressing position onthe top of suction member 20. In

, and, obviously, if the flaps of the blank have been suitably gummedprior to their folding, the pressure exertedby the folding fingers willcause adherence at the points-or areas desired.

As many changes could-bemade in-the above construction and as manyapparently Widely different embodiments of'the inven-.

tioncould be made Without departing from the scope thereof, it isintended that all matter contained in the foregoing description or shownin the accompanying drawingsshall be interpreted as illustrative and notin a limiting sense.

What I claim is:

1. In an envelope folding device,- a support, vmovable members adaptedto act upon an envelope blankto foldthesame, a movable suction memberhaving suction apertures extendingalong the lines of proposed fold, saidblock being movable to a position to attach theblank by suction, thenmovable with the attached blank, to cause va Wiping to initiate thefolds by a Wiping sive with and arranged adjacent folding fingers, afolding finger for each line of fold, means for moving the suction blockinto position to attach an unfolded blank and for moving said block inthe opposite direction action of extending portions of the blank uponother parts of the device. 1

3. The method of folding envelopes which consists in depositing ablankupon a holding and folding device, creating a vacuum below said blanksubstantially along predetermined llnes of fold,mov1ng the blank, hileunder the influence of the vacuum, to cause portions of theblankextending beyond said linesof;

fold to be wiped agalnst' relatively stationary parts and partiallyfolded, and acting upon said partially folded portions to complete thefolds.

JOSEPH M. TOWNSEND'.

